


A Lot Had Happened

by LokoteiBex



Series: Rapunzel Appreciation Week 2020 [1]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: F/M, Rapunzel Appreciation Week 2020 (Disney)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:34:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25534444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LokoteiBex/pseuds/LokoteiBex
Summary: Unlike the first time they did this, though, Eugene didn’t wait until the sky was full of lanterns to pull theirs out. This time, theirs would rise with everyone else’s. It was funny how this festival meant something different, now. It meant something different to her, and it meant something different to Coronans everywhere. For years - nearly two decades! - she’d watched the mysterious floating lights that only rose on her birthday and felt like they were meant for her. And, of course, it turned out that they had been. The lanterns that were lifted in the hopes that she’d return to them had guided her home. Her eighteenth birthday had been the realization of a dream. She’d always wanted to see the floating lights up close, and it had been even greater than she’d imagined it to be. It had also been the beginning of her new dream.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Series: Rapunzel Appreciation Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1850176
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21





	A Lot Had Happened

**Author's Note:**

> Rapunzel Appreciation Week Day 1 - Birthday

A lot had happened. Rapunzel said it all the time, every time she reflected on the events of the past three years. A lot had happened. It was really nice to be spending a birthday out on the water, bobbing in a boat, with Eugene and Pascal by her side.

She had worn flowers in her hair today, just like that first time. She and Eugene had taken to the streets with the citizens of Corona, and they’d drawn on the cobblestones in chalk, and danced, and shared treats, and sat by the fountain talking and telling stories. It was the Lost Princess’ birthday, only she hadn’t been lost for years now. Everyone greeted her and Eugene,  _ thanked  _ them both for saving the kingdom. No longer was she a stranger in a sea of faces, but a beloved member of society.

But a lot had happened, and so when dusk was approaching and Eugene took her hand and led her down to the docks, she’d been grateful to realize that they’d be getting a breather away from the activity. Time spent in each other’s quiet company. It didn’t escape her that there was a picnic basket pre-packed in the boat, but it didn’t surprise her, either. Eugene had, if anything, grown more thoughtful since the first of her birthdays they’d spent together.

Together, they remembered simpler times, a first date that they hadn’t realized was a date until after the fact. Riding horses out to a wall that was no longer a true barrier, locking her in. She plucked the flowers from her hair, and he held them for her while she placed them on the water, matching the tops of the turrets in the castle’s reflection. Smiling, she added one over her window as well.

Unlike the first time they did this, though, Eugene didn’t wait until the sky was full of lanterns to pull theirs out. This time, theirs would rise with everyone else’s. It was funny how this festival meant something different, now. It meant something different to her, and it meant something different to Coronans everywhere. For years - nearly two decades! - she’d watched the mysterious floating lights that only rose on her birthday and felt like they were meant for her. And, of course, it turned out that they had been. The lanterns that were lifted in the hopes that she’d return to them had guided her home. Her eighteenth birthday had been the realization of a dream. She’d always wanted to see the floating lights up close, and it had been even greater than she’d imagined it to be. It had also been the beginning of her new dream.

She told Eugene about the evening of her eighteenth birthday, after they’d parted ways. Without going too much into the truly horrific negative things that had happened that night, she told him how watching him sail away with the crown, the remains of the last lanterns fading out, was like watching her old dream die and take her new dream with it. How in that moment, she never wanted to see another lantern again.

He teased how he hoped she felt differently now, and brushed his fingers across her cheek before tucking her short hair behind her ear, the rosy light from this year’s lanterns all around them and setting their skin and hearts aglow. This was no longer new love, timid and unsure. This was a love that was comfortable and secure. Time and again, the both of them had proven that they would do anything - even die - for the other. It was a relief that tonight, the stakes weren’t so high.

It took hours for the lanterns to fade out or begin their drifting passage to Terapi Island. Rapunzel spared a small wish that the Lorbs would enjoy their new lanterns, and wondered what they thought they were and where they came from. Going by how they treated humans, they probably thought the lanterns were for them! Well, let them have that thought. As far as Rapunzel was concerned, the lanterns were for everyone.

Even after the last of the lantern glow was gone, Rapunzel and Eugene stayed out on the water, bobbing, drifting, cuddling, talking, enjoying a peaceful evening after a long and eventful day. A long and eventful few years. A lot had happened. And Rapunzel was content. She realized now that she’d never truly understood contentment before. She’d come close, very close, on Eugene’s birthday this year but, well… a lot had happened.

“Oh, that reminds me!” Eugene said brightly, reaching for the picnic basket. “I brought you a celebratory cupcake!”

Yes, a lot had happened. But on this birthday, a lot more was about to start.

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't sure I'd be able to contribute anything for this week, but I managed to knock this out. Hopefully I'll be able to do more during the week.
> 
> I just wanted something soft and simple and in thinking about Rapunzel's birthdays, I came up with this.


End file.
